Garden Railway Forum

I like the side tank and the tender version, both of which look they could be bashed from a Regner. Do be careful if you're exploring that page, by the way. I hadn't heard of all the manufacturers and, being a librarian, clicked on "Dewey" - the page I came across definitely had nothing t...

I have been busy repairing one of my father's locomotives. He prefers North American subjects, and the locomotive I am repairing for him is a "Shay" type geared locomotive in HO scale. While looking for parts online, I encountered this article about a fascinating little engine made b6 a co...

Beautiful work.

That little engine is impressively smooth and quiet. Usually those little IC engines are deafening and require a lot of reduction gearing. This one is really nice.

I am becoming concerned at this point that if this locomotive acquires any more complications, it will become self-aware and begin causing mischief. Anti-human mischief.

This is brilliant. I have to admit I found the idea outlandish at first, but now I see it and that genius boiler design, I am firmly of the opinion that this thing is going to be a masterpiece.

I enjoyed everything about that.

,... although a British built saddle tank with Walschaerts valve gear is a rare beast in any period. There's your inner fine-scale modeller talking again. The fact is, British-built saddle tanks with (simplified) Walschaert's valve-gear are exceedingly common. It's just that they are almost all abo...

What is the advantage to air-operated pointwork? I have heard of it before, but have always thought it sounded a bit "Rube Goldberg" if you don't mind me saying so. Although I must admit I can see it being more weather-resistant than electrics would be.

I also build aero models and have to agree that the vibration in a live steam engine is more like a gentle rocking, if anything, compared to what a model aeroplane or helicopter can do to a servo. Your servos endured more vibration in the car driving home from the hobby shop than they will in a mode...

Well I think it's a nice colour, anyway. There is (was?) a brand in Canada called "Tremclad" that was marketed as a "rust paint". They came out with a line of "designer" colours and I chose the "Wild Raspberry" colour for my locomotive, because it was similar ...

What kind of paint did you use? I'm just asking because if it's enamel you can pop it in the oven at a low temperature and the paint will harden and darken slightly. Come to think of it, you could do that anyway. If the paint won't withstand 180f in the oven, it won't last long under steam either. I...

Aha. I knew it wasn't a geared oscillator when I saw you reverse it by giving it a shove in the other direction. I did think it looked a bit like a Swift sixteen body.

It looks very nice, but I still think the "Ellie" tram you just finished is my favourite.

That's a nice little engine. Did you build it? What's under the bonnet?

Yes those roofs look much better. The lower roofs made the buildings look like warehouses. Now they look very visually appealing, and proper.

Oh wow. What a beautiful model! I would be happy to watch a much longer video of this engine running. The large drivers and low rpm make the motion look very realistic in action. Well done finding that.

Old Man Aaron wrote: ↑Thu Jul 21, 2022 3:29 am Long as you've thoroughly cleaned the metal with meths (denatured alcohol) or any other paint prep solvent, you can't go wrong with engine enamel.

Agreed. I think that will look fine on your smokebox.

Ah-ha, I thought something was going on. I like "George". I have a "Billy" that I made, but have extensively modified to look a certain way. If they'd had "George" at the time, that's the one I WOULD have built. Don't worry, I am probably not the only one who reads ever...

This is very interesting. Are you building a "George" AND a "Billy"? Or are you building your own version incorporating parts of each? I see you have a "George" body there, and in your picture of the assembled chassis, the weigh shaft is curved, like on a "George&q...

Mike, I admire the job you did building that "Billy". I think it looks great, and it's clear that you've got the aftermarket boiler steaming well. I hope you won't mind if I suggest you take a look at the valve timing. You can tell by the "pulsating" sound of the exhaust that the...